Ahmedabad: Protests continued in some parts of Gujarat on Thursday over the brutal thrashing of Dalits at a village in Una town of Gir Somnath district, even as many political leaders met the victims and their families.
Rahul Gandhi reached Una and met the family members of Dalits, who were thrashed for skinning a dead cow, and assured all possible help to the victims.
According to a kin of the victims, Gandhi, who spent around 40 minutes with the family members, said he is "ashamed" that such incidents are taking place in India.
Rahul, who was accompanied by Congress leaders Kumari Selja and Gurudas Kamat, also had tea with the family members of the victims in this remote village near Una town of Gir-Somnath district, where the incident took place on July 11.
"We narrated to him (Rahul) what happened with my cousins and uncle. He listened to us patiently and assured us all help so that we can get justice," Jitu Sarvaiya, a cousin of the victims, told reporters after Gandhi left.
"Rahulji said he feels ashamed that such incidents are still taking place in the country and gave his personal number to us to contact in case of any emergency," he said.
The Congress Vice President met Balubhai Sarvaiya and his family members, after landing at the nearby Union Territory of Diu. Seven of family members of Balubhai including him were beaten up in the incident.
"He (Rahul) also asked questions about issues and discrimination being faced by us in our village. We told them that still the practice of untouchability is prevalent here as we are made to stand away from others," Jitu, who is studying engineering at a college in Bhavnagar district, said.
"We demanded from him that those who were involved in the incident should be given exemplary punishment and kept behind bars for their entire life or else they will once again do this to someone else," he said.
"We also told him about police not coming to help us when cow activists were beating my cousin brothers," he said.
Incidents of violence were reported late last night in Rajkot and Mehsana, while protest marches were held on Thursday in Limbdi and Surat, police said.
Why would we leave this village? People who hurt us should leave: Victim after meeting Rahul Gandhi #UnaIncident pic.twitter.com/0gkooe83tU
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 21, 2016
In Rajkot, a BRTS bus stand was damaged, while a state transport bus was damaged at Unjha in Mehasana district late last night though nobody was hurt, they said, adding barring sporadic incidents, nothing major has been reported so far on Thursday.
The state transport bus service resumed today after remaining suspended yesterday in view of the protest, officials said.
Dalit protesters tried to block a train today for a short while near a railway station at Udhna in Surat. Thousands of protesters took out a rally and blocked the Ahmedabad-bound Navjivan Express for some time before police managed to clear the tracks.
A rally was also taken out in Limbdi town of Surendranagar district.
In Modasa of Arvalli district, shops were shut on Thursday against the forced closure and damages suffered during the bandh called by Dalits on Wednesday.
FIRs have been filed against both shopkeepers and protesters following yesterday's incident in which several shops were damaged by Dalits when they tried to enforce the bandh, police said.
Why would we leave this village? People who hurt us should leave: Victim after meeting Rahul Gandhi #UnaIncident pic.twitter.com/0gkooe83tU
— ANI (@ANI_news) July 21, 2016
Meanwhile, NCP leader Praful Patel along with his party's Gujarat MLAs, Jayant Patel and Kandhal Jadeja, met one victim, Bhanubhai Sarvaiya, and his family members at Mota Samadhiyala in Una and offered them compensation of Rs 2 lakh. They then left for Rajkot to meet the hospitalised victims.
Later, Patel alleged that Chief Minister Anandiben Patel took nine days, which is a long time, after the incident to reach the victims.
"As a public representative, when the entire state is on fire and a sense of distrust prevails, it becomes our responsibility to console the affected family members and make them feel that we are there with them in their time of difficulty," he said.
